Emma Chiaroni is a Doctoral Research Associate at Farallon Strategies. Emma brings her experience in marine ecology, conservation, and social science to assist in viewing projects with an interdisciplinary lens. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Emma earned her bachelors in Marine Biology from UC Santa Cruz, and connected herself to the Bay Area marine conservation NGO sector after graduation, working on seabird conservation projects to community-based stakeholder engagement and outreach. In wanting to deepen her understanding of marine conservation issues further, Emma earned a masters degree in Marine Environment and Resources from a European Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degree program, where she experienced applying social science research methods to understand human-marine systems.

Currently, Emma is earning her PhD in Rural Sociology & Human Dimensions of Natural Resources and the Environment at Pennsylvania State University. For her dissertation research, Emma is investigating how California state policies and practices understand Indigenous knowledge, tribal sovereignty, and equity in marine planning and decision making. Emma is passionate about conservation and climate issues involving opportunities for addressing historical environmental injustice, and brings this passion to the innovative approach of Farallon Strategies. When she is not working or reading endless papers for her PhD, Emma enjoys cooking, being in the ocean, and birdwatching.